South Korea, Asia

Republic of Korea / Taehan-min'guk / Han'guk / ROK

South Korea is in Eastern Asia; it forms the southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan or East Sea and the Yellow Sea.

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Korea was an independent kingdom for much of the past millennium. Following its victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan occupied Korea; five years later it formally annexed the entire peninsula. After World War II, a Republic of Korea (ROK) was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a Communist-style government was installed in the north (the DPRK). During the Korean War (1950-53), US troops and UN forces fought alongside soldiers from the ROK to defend South Korea from DPRK attacks supported by China and the Soviet Union. An armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel.

In 1993, KIM Yo'ng-sam became South Korea's first civilian president following 32 years of military rule.